Birding in the Texas Panhandle

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Late Summer Songbirds

Earlier this month I drove around some of the farmlands south of Borger and caught a few pictures of some late summer passerines. They aren’t all that vocal this time of year, but I still enjoy seeing them.

I think that these are Grasshopper Sparrows, although I really have trouble sometimes identifying sparrows. It’s quite possible that I’m wrong, but Grasshopper Sparrows are pretty common around here in the summer, but then again so are Cassin’s Sparrows and some or all of these may actually be Cassin’s Sparrows. When they are singing they are both unmistakable, but as I said, they’re pretty quiet this time of year.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Loggerhead Shrikes aren’t really much at singing, but they are pretty cool birds anyway. They don’t have really strong legs and claws so they impale their prey on mesquite thorns or barbed-wire fences or something similar to hold them as they tear them apart with that wicked hooked beak.